Highland Trail Race

[GregMay]

Ace video Ian. Was great to see some places from last year

[htrider]

Arkle path looks ace, a job for the fat bike methinks!
New rule if you scratch next year - you have to take a selfie after you've made the decision and then Alan can judge who looks the most pissed off, I reckon I might of beaten you Ian cos my face was tripping me all the way down the hill to ullapool!

Funnily enough my achillies tendons were giving me a bit of gyp on my road ride back to tyndrum, never ever having bothered me before - maybe it was the midges...

[IanB]

New rule if you scratch next year - you have to take a selfie after you've made the decision and then Alan can judge who looks the most pissed off, I reckon I might of beaten you Ian cos my face was tripping me all the way down the hill to ullapool!

Ha, maybe, though when you set out to make a film of the race and you don't get to tell the story you intended OR finish the race, you come away with not having achieved two things...

That said, the response to the video has been amazing - thanks for everyone's comments here and elsewhere. Perhaps I've still be able to tell a good story, just not the one that I set out to do 

[Calzzak]

Really enjoyed the video!

I finally put some words down: http://wp.me/p4Ew0r-R

[NewRetroTom]

Great ride and an enjoyable read!

Can't believe you set your alarm for 1:20am on the last day! Nutter! No wonder you snoozed for a while!

I thought I was pretty keen setting mine for 4 although I did wake up 10 minutes before it went off.

[AlasdairMc]

Great write-up calzzak, and congratulations for riding so well.

I completely agree with you on your summary where you said that at no point did you not enjoy it. I thought it was fantastic throughout, even through the horrible stuff.

[AlanG]

Horrible stuff? Where? I'm deeply hurt!

Calzzak, a very enjoyable write up of your superb ride. True racing!

[dgjessee]

It's all terrible Alan. And terrible beautiful! Which is why we all have a type 2 desire to return!!


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[IanB]

Horrible stuff? Where? I'm deeply hurt!

Last year I hated the Abhainn Rath section (as Greg May will testify). This year it was a breeze as I knew it was coming and what to expect.

I think if you put it to the popular vote, Lochinver to Ledmore Junction would rate as the worst bit, but applying the same logic as Abhainn Rath, I think it would be easier next time.

To change topic slightly, this section has also made me to have a rethink on gear/weight distribution. I've always been keen to load the bike and keep the weight off me, but for sections like this a proportion of the weight on me would be a distinct advantage to make the bike easier to handle over such difficult terrain. It took about 4% of the total time for less than 2% of the distance, whether that pays off over the whole route is another matter, though it would also benefit other sections too.

[drjon]

I went back to using a back pack before DNS'ing...exactly that reason, and ability to carry bike with less fuss ie no frame bag. I grip under the top tube at the seat tube end a lot on the rougher ground.

[AlasdairMc]

Last year I hated the Abhainn Rath section (as Greg May will testify). This year it was a breeze as I knew it was coming and what to expect.

I think if you put it to the popular vote, Lochinver to Ledmore Junction would rate as the worst bit, but applying the same logic as Abhainn Rath, I think it would be easier next time.

Definitely agree with you on that part. Everything else was fine by comparison. Last year I hated the Abhainn Rath (despite having ridden it before) but this year I really took it in my stride and accepted I needed to do it as part of the race.

I wouldn't go so far as to say Lochinver to Ledmore would be easier - that's crazy talk!!

To change topic slightly, this section has also made me to have a rethink on gear/weight distribution. I've always been keen to load the bike and keep the weight off me, but for sections like this a proportion of the weight on me would be a distinct advantage to make the bike easier to handle over such difficult terrain.

I did this when I rode the West Highland Way for my training. I kept everything on my bike through all of the ride, until I reached the Loch Lomond carry, and took my front drybag off the bars and strapped it to my rucksack (I'd planned to do this so had sorted my approach in advance), and took some other stuff out of my frame bag as well. Portage was far easier with the weight on my back, even dropping only a kilo or so the bike.

[htrider]

I really enjoyed the abhain rath trail - was much more rideable than when I did it in '03 although 3" tyres helped. That said a great alternative is to turn right at the head of loch eilde mor and follow the stalkers path over meall na cruaidhe then head down the chiarian path to Loch treig - ace wee rocky single track apart from the last k (which is downhill) - possible alternative for next year Alan?

[AlanG]

Interesting. It looks about the same distance (15km) but with 350m of climbing. How much of it is rideable? The current way has only 5km that is on/off/hike-a-bike, although it may seem more!

[AlasdairMc]

Here's another alternative that saves the Mamore Lodge climb (but avoids Kinlochleven) - where the Devil's Staircase ends, ride up the pipe to the Blackwater Dam, cross it then down Glen Iolairean past Ciaran Bothy to Loch Treig. I've not ridden it for a few years, but from the pipe to the dam is near flat by virtue of the pipe needing to be.

[htrider]

Interesting. It looks about the same distance (15km) but with 350m of climbing. How much of it is rideable? The current way has only 5km that is on/off/hike-a-bike, although it may seem more!

When I did it I was doing a loop back to KLL so I only went as far as the bothy then back to the dam and down to KLL. A few hop on hop off burn crossings along the side of the loch and a couple of bits of the climb beat me but the rest is pretty much all rideable with a few more hop on hop off burn crossings etc. there was a really long length of 12" wide stony single track which was ace. I did it in October 11 after much foul weather. I know a few folk who've gone all the way down to Loch treig and it goes OK - lots of riding barring the odd burn crossing.

Alasdair - I've done the pipeline back from loch eilde and down the chiarain path to KLL - OK but a bit wet in places. The SSDT uses that route

[AlanG]

In the last few minutes Dries Brouckaert from Belgium finished an ITT of the route in about 6 days 16 hrs 15 mins. It didn't look great weather this past week so very well done to him.

[drjon]

Has the trail from the loch up been improved? Many years ago it was a horror show of bog, but I'd heard a rumour it has been worked on? Good fun past the ciaran bothy. If we're looking at alternatives, the climb up from annat could be bypassed by climbing up to the mid section of coire lair  from the forest track over to achashellach. This has a tiny bothy half way up and is almost 100% rideable, whilst taking in the good bit of the coire lair decent. I guess it's less 'hard' but WAY more fun.

[drjon]

The bothy, btw, is easan dorcha.

[htrider]

Has the trail from the loch up been improved? Many years ago it was a horror show of bog, but I'd heard a rumour it has been worked on? Good fun past the ciaran bothy. If we're looking at alternatives, the climb up from annat could be bypassed by climbing up to the mid section of coire lair  from the forest track over to achashellach. This has a tiny bothy half way up and is almost 100% rideable, whilst taking in the good bit of the coire lair decent. I guess it's less 'hard' but WAY more fun.

I've done that route, its a great climb up from the bothy
I'm going to try way over from Loch maree to the back of Liatach which misses out the road to Kinlochewe and torridon. Most of it looks like a good stalker path up Glen grudie with about a 2k gap to the good path behind Liatach back to torridon that looks like it would go OK. Where it comes out on the road there is another path into Corrie Granda past the Ling hut. The map shows another km gap but there is a path up into the corrie visible on google aerial photos

[AlanG]

I think the climb from Annat to the Bealach na Lice is one of the most fun of the whole route. That is staying!
The trackless "gap" at the end of Glen Grudie looks like it will be very boggy, remember this would come straight after the delightful Tollie path. Let me know how you get on up there.
I was thinking an alternate could be to go from Poolewe to Torridon via Gairloch and Redpoint thus missing the Tollie path and the boring main road by Loch Maree. Has anyone done the 11km track from Redpoint to Lower Diabaig? I've read half is really good, half is really bad.